Who are you being the church for? Pastor Mike asked this in his sermon this weekend.
At Hope Quilters, providing our quilts to those in need is one of our primary ways of being the church. I hope that you can look around and see so even more ways that you are all being the church for each other. It is touching to see people come into the room and start giving hugs! It's heartening to know you feel comfortable sharing your joys and concerns with the group, asking for prayers from your sisters. I saw people coordinate rides for one of our members without a car. It touched me that so many of you came up to me to ask what you could do for the class. Thank you all for being the church to me and to each other!
2017 is starting out to be a wonderful year. Rachel kicked off the new devotion series that involves a block-of-the-month quilt. I look forward to see your quilts come together. We also spent the day Friday sorting through a ton of fabric donations. We LOVE to get donations. We had two tables piled high with sacks and boxes. What fun to see the projects that others have worked on and we're so glad to turn someone's once loved fabric into a quilt that someone else will love.
Don't forget about the upcoming retreat! January 27 and 28 are the dates. We'll meet again at the Waukee campus. This is a time for fellowship. You should feel free to work on your own projects. Mission quilts are okay to do but we won't have access to all our fabric. We'll order in dinner on Friday and lunch on Saturday. Deanna has picked Mixed and Zmarik. Both restaruants offer plenty of choices and include gluten free options. We'll have a menu at the retreat so you can place your order. The retreat is free but we collect $10 a day for these meals. Mary is making Chili for Friday lunch. We'll have coffee available. Otherwise you're welcome to bring a snack to share. Officially start time is 8:30 and we can sew all day. No need to sign up but please let me know if you have any questions.
We are having a How to Quilt class to help interested parties determine if Hope Quilters is something for them.
As a reminder, we are part of the Lutheran Church of Hope's Creative Arts Ministry. Be sure to take a look at their page on the Hope website. This link includes a signup for the newsletter as well as the Facebook page. Many people are unaware of what all this ministry involves. Take a look for yourself and see all the possible creative opportunities available to you.
I want to leave you with an example of a quilt that I feel embodies what we are all about. This is a beautiful creation of scraps and orphan blocks. When put toghether it makes one of the most colorful and interesting quilts I have ever seen. We use fabric donations and look for a way to use anything that is provided to us. And look at waht beauty God can inpire in us!
